During the aforementioned lawsuit, Robert De Niro’s former assistant took the stand and told the court about how De Niro allegedly bragged to staff about the age gap in his romantic relationship. Graham Chase Robinson, the former assistant, said to the court: “[De Niro] alluded to the age difference [with Tiffany Chen] being 30 years and he boasted about that,” via the New York Post. At the time of their daughter Gia’s birth in 2023, Chen was 45 years old and De Niro was 79 years old. It seems that perhaps that age difference lent itself to difficulties between De Niro and his former personal assistant Robinson. Per Robinson’s testimony, Chen’s behavior changed drastically when they were alone together.
Robinson’s issues with former boss De Niro allegedly began after Chen came into the picture, the former assistant told the court in November 2023. What makes this situation bizarre is that Robinson worked for De Niro for over a decade. Things got heated to the point that Chen all but demanded De Niro hire a new assistant, it was revealed during the lawsuit. A series of late-night text messages from Chen to De Niro were also shown in court, including “If you keep her, you and I will eventually have problems” and “I’m not gonna be happy until you tell me she is looking for her replacement,” the New York Post reported.
